Read About The Competitions

Read about the competitions:
Wave Challange, Denmark
PKRA, Germany
KPWT, Turkey
Come along to:
Cabarete
Hawaii…
…and learn the Handle pass

www.surfineurope.net
Editor and translation:
Jonas Hörnstein
info@surfineurope.net
+46 702 63 22 79
Contributors:
Jesper Berg, Christian Dittrich,
Flo Ducate,Paul Eric, Henrik
Ericsson, Henrik Fahlén, Roberto
Foresti, Kristina Karlsson, Hugo
Ljungberg, Anna Sparre, Mathieu
Turries, Emma York
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Cover photo:
Martin Ekström, Skanör
Photo: Mat, Aloha Photo
People are pushing it harder than ever! It is not only the
number of kitesurfers that is increasing, but also the level of
performance. The evolution is incredible and things you
until last year only had seen on video are now pulled off at
your local break. Many discovers how much more fun it
gets if you get together and push each other to try new
things, and if you try there is always the chance that you’ll
eventually make the manoeuvres. That was the case for me
this summer as I finally managed to stick the handle pass
that I had been practising during most of the spring. If you
haven’t tried them yet you have the chance this autumn as
we in this issue gives you some advice on the handle pass,
and also invites you to a kite event at Björkäng, Sweden,
where you can try out all the latest moves assisted by some
experienced teachers.
The level of competition has also increased significantly
since last year. The former dividing line between old-school
with lots of spins, height, and board-offs, and the new
school with speed and powerful wake style moves is slowly
disappearing. Now they are going both high and powerful
with combinations of board offs, kiteloops, and handle
passes. In this issue we give you all the usual details from
the latest competitions, as well as a number of relaxed
travel stories for those who are not interested in
competition.
Contents:
A season in Cabarete..………..……………………… 4
Kicki tells you how to make the money do if you plan to
spend the winter at one of the best kitespots on earth.
Hawaii…………………………………………..………. 8
Henrik Fahlén shares three years of experience as he
guides you between the islands of Hawaii.
More boards.……………………………….…………. 12
The ”complete guide” from last issue is completed with four
more brands.
Handle pass……………………….………………….. 15
Learn the manoeuvre that more than any other makes you
stick out from the crowd.
Cabarete – the kitesurfing Mecka……………….... 18
Christian and Anna keep fighting it out in the PKRA world
tour and report from Cabarete.
News and gossip…………………………………….. 22
Read about the latest news and gossip from the world of
Kitesurfing.
Wave Challange, Denmark......…………………….. 25
Henke, Pepe, Falle, and Mat went to Denmark to eat pölse,
drink beer, and participate in West Coast Wave Challenge.
Kite FA open, PKRA Tyskland……..……………… 28
The German island of Fehmarn was host for the PKRA
world cup.
KPWT, Turkiet………………………...……………… 31
The second event in the KPWT world tour was held at Burc
beach close to Istanbul, Turkey.

A season in Cabarete
Text: Kristina Karlsson, Photo: Hugo Ljungberg
If you have planned to make a season in Cabarete, I have a few tips that will make your trip as
smooth and enjoyable as possible. There are many ways to make the season. Some like to work
during their stay and others prefer to take a long vacation. I went down for the first time in spring
2003 and planned to live cheap and not to work, but my plans quickly changed, as I found out
that “cheap” wasn’t really as cheap as I had imagined.
Cabarete offers lots of job
opportunities, but most of them
are either at a bar, or at a kite or
windsurfing school. Kite
instructor was the job that
tempted me the most and I was
lucky as one of IKO’s instructor
courses was just about to begin,
however I recommend you to
check the home page of IKO
(www.ikorg.org) and reserve a
place as they usually get full.
The duration of the course is
five days and costs (at least)
550 US $, but that you earn
quite quickly once you start
working.
Since I speak several languages,
and especially French, I immediately
got a job at Kite Park
(www.kiteboardcabarete.com).
The working day can look a little
different depending on the
school. Generally you work six
days a week with one lesson a
day. The lessons are 2-3 hours
and you have one, two, or three
students at the same time. If
you want to give more or less
lessons that is usually no
problem. The salary is a certain
percentage of the course fee
(usually 20-30%). Keep in mind
that the work as an instructor is
totally dependent on the wind
and if there is no wind there will
be no job. Always bring some
extra money for the windless
periods. When it comes to the
job I recommened you not to
work too much in the beginning
as it takes time from you kiting
and you easily get bored of
sitting on the beach and watch
as all the others are having fun.
It should also be said that Kite
Beach isn’t exactly the most
relaxing place to work. If you
have weak nerves you better
choose another beach as
accidents happens every day,
and I’m not only talking about
kites in the palm trees...
4

Kite Beach Cabarete is Kite
Beach Cabarete and as a result
most of the kite world passes by
to kite there at least ones in
their life... hence it gets crowded
in the water. Earlier the invasion
was more or less concentrated
to Kite Beach, but now it has
spread to the surrounding spots
like Bozo Beach, La Boca and
Encuentro. It can be very hard
to find a place for yourself, but it
is possible if you stay a bit
further out from the beach as
most people like to show off in
front of the beach.
What kind of conditions does
Cabarete offer The answer is
every possible condition. At Kite
Beach we have the flat water
with reefs creating waves a few
hundred meters offshore. If you
like extremely gusty winds and a
shore break high as a house
you should go to Bozo Beach
(just next to Cabarete beach).
Encuentro is the hang out for
the surfers and here you can
kite waves until you get seasick
without disturbing the surfers as
they leave the water when the
wind starts to blow. La Boca is a
favourite spot among the
photographers, which is understandable
considering the
incredible background scenery
and the super flat water. The
problem is that the place is very
small and very popular so you
need to be lucky to find enough
of space to kite there. It is
actually quite funny how you
have to sneak away when going
there to ensure that no other get
the same idea.
Other spots are Las Terrenas
and Samana. These places are
about four hours of driving from
Cabarete and are well worth the
trip as there is much less people
and much more relaxed there
compared to Cabarete. In
February you can see wales
and get to kite with them at the
Samana peninsula, which is one
more reason to make the road
trip to Las Terrenas.
As for the temperature I
wouldn’t recommend you to
bring a wetsuit as it is very
warm in the water. Some people
use a shorty so if you easily get
cold you could bring a shorty. If
you want more space for your
kite stuff and Rom you could
leave the shorty at home.
It can be hard to find a place to
live in Cabarete. During the high
season you shouldn’t go there
without something arranged for
the first nights, as there is
NOTHING available, not even
the most disgusting places. A tip
is to check www.windsofcabarete.com
and either put up a
question about a place to live or
check if someone is looking for
a roommate. My tip is to book a
hotel for the first nights and then
look for a cheaper place when
you get there. There are hotels
both on Kite Beach (kitexite
hotell, kite beach hotell, dare2fly
hotell) and bigger ones in the
city (residencia dominicana,
Caracoll aparthotell, Kaoba
hotell etc.) that you can find and
book on the Internet. If you are
staying for a couple of months it
is worthwhile to look for an
apartment and this is most
easily done at an agency, like
l'Agence. As you hear from the
name it is a French agency and
they are easy to deal with.
Calculate on spending around
150-200 US $ per person and
month.
One last tip is to bring a book.
When it doesn’t blow, and that
has happened a lot this season,
there isn’t much to do. If you
have money you can go
wakeboard (20 US $ for 20
minutes), rent motorcycles and
go up in the mountains, or go for
a one-day canyoning trip. If you
are short of money you can take
your surfboard and go to
Encuentro or go to Sosua for
some scuba diving... a little
short on fishes, but better than
to read yet another chapter of
the boring book you bought at
the airport…
I hope that my tips will be
helpful and that you’ll enjoy your
trip. All in all Cabarete is well
worth a visit but make sure to
travel around a little since
Cabarete doesn’t really show
how beautiful the Dominican
Republic really is.
Have a nice trip,
Kicki
6

MAUI NO KA OI
MAUI
IS
THE
BEST
Hawaii – Expensive! – yes it sure is if
you want, there is definately the possibility
to spend loads of money.
But if you want to experience Hawaii
more economically, there are a lot of
ways to get by cheaper.
I spent 3 years on Hawaii during the 90`s, and
here are some advise how to live on a budget!
Hundreds of magical volcano-islands, some
really small, in the Pacific is the Hawaiian
Islands. This paradise is also one of the USA
states, 5 hours flight from the mainland. Hawaii
has a great mix of polynesian, american
och asian cultur, beautiful outback, lovely
climate (tradewind, warm water), white sandy
deserted beaches and idyllic lagoons...
Since Maui is the windy island, I soon realised
that that I had to go there. A round trip to
Hawaii varies a lot, from 10-25 000 Swedish
Crowns. Check out different travel agencys
for pricing and find a good route without too
many layovers on the trip, the trip itself is long
enough... The last times I have been visiting I
had a agency in Göteborg "Scandia Holidays"
to help me with the trip for a deasent price
(+46 31-7110920).
Usually I rent a room in a house in Paia (a
small plantation town close to the surfspots).
There were a few houses that the Euros rented.
Mark Bliss had 5 different housesaroud
Paia where he rented out a room for 250-400
usd/month depending on size and how well he
know you. Usually the rooms were only like 10
square metres "big". Jerome was another guy
who rented out rooms. I dont really know if
these guys are still operating in that neighborhood,
but there will definately be more rentals
nowadays.
Since there are no buses, you will need a car.
AVIS or others are more expensive than to
rent at Rent a Wreck, then you´ll get a real
“Maui-cruiser” and blend in really quick. If you
will stay longer, buy a cheap car. You can get a
deasent car for 1000 dollar and it will probably
last until you leave. The cars in Hawaii wear
down fast in the salty winds.
To bring your own kitestuff can cost all from
noting to 250 dollars.The airlines are just
about to change their pricelists for overweight
to include kitestuff. Last time I was there I
barely got away with insisting that the gear
was NOT windsurfgear or surfboard. Know that
Naish will have a bag that says NaishGolf on it
next year...
Now its time to get the right gear. The prices
are abot the same as here in Sweden. If you
need more stuff there are plenty of surfshops
to choose from. Most of them are located in
Kahului (the capital of Maui). Hawaiian Island
Surf Sports, Hi-Tech etc. A really nice Swedish
guy named Alex works in Hi-Tech, he has a lot
of info on whats going on and off.
On kitebeach (near Kanaha Beack Park) you
will find some of the best kites in the world doing
some of the crazyest stuff to stay famous.
The are more less populated beaches to start
out at, for example Flash beach just 200 meters
uppwind towards Paia. Notice that you are
not allowed to kite before 11.00 am becauce
of the divers and fishermen on the reefs. You
are not allowed to kite at all on some beaches
so ask around and get well informed.
I bought the food at Cost U Less eller CostCo
to save money.
Mauis windy season is summertime and the
waves are really big at wintertime.
If you choose Hawaii as your next kitesurfingvacation;
you will not be disapointed!
Good luck.
Aloha
Falle
www.swell.se

Pix from my latest surftrip.
Shot by Funkyman
Oahu is the island with the capital Honolulu.
It has about 600 000 inhabitants. There are
some really popular beaches, Waikiki Beach,
known from many TV-shows. North shore
with the legendary Pipeline, Sunset beach
och Waimea Bay. Known is also the port Pearl
Harbor.
Hawaii, is the largest and youngest of all the
Hawaiian islands. Here you will find black sand
beaches, Hawais highes summit Mauna Kea,
4.205 meters above sea level, and the vulcano
Kilauea. You can go skiing on the slopes of
Mouna Kea during wintertime. There are less
beaches och surfable reefs han on the other
islands.
Maui is the windy one. The island is two high
volcanoes who accelerates the wind to 15-25
knots. On the northern coast is Hoòkipa beach
and Kite beach.
Lanai has some of the most expensive hotels
in Hawaii. A really small and sleapy island.
Kahoolawe, small, dry island only used by
the military.
Molokai is a national park with two hotels and
a few restaurants. Here is the worlds highest
oceancliffs, over a 1000 meters high.
Niihau is one of the smaller islands owned by
the Robinsons. It has 220 people living there.
You have to be a friend of the family or a pure
Hawaiian to go there. No electricity, phones no
nothing. They talk Hawaiian on this island.
Kauai is the oldest and most northerly island
where people live. It is a garden island with
wonderful valleys and waterfalls. There are
rainforest, tropical gardens and dramatic cliffs.
Miles after miles of untouched white sandy
beaches. The biggest town is calles Lihue and
is on the southeast part of the island.

Throw some gas on the fire...
- Single point valve inflation system - Performance - Safety - Relaunch
Inte som något tidigare ...
Mer info på www.swell.se
eller www.naishkites.com
photos - julia deutsch
pyro - andy

More boards…
Text: Jonas Hörnstein
It was a bit unfortunate to call the guide in the last issue “complete”, since many of the existing
manufacturers unintentionally had been left out. Among those you could find some of the big
names on the market and along with some smaller brands that all deserved to be mentioned.
Therefore I decided to add a couple of brands in this issue. I will not make the mistake to call it
complete this time, but at least the list is a bit less incomplete after adding those…
Crazy Fly
Crazy Fly is one of many brands that have made
some big improvements for 2004. Gone is the
concentration on directionals, mutants, and
oddly shaped asymmetric boards, and left are
three lines of good-looking and cheap twin-tip
models. The smallest model is the most popular
and exists in three sizes and you can get them
with either a very lightweight PVC-core, or a
slightly heavier but stronger wooden core.
Apart from the three boards in the smallest line
there are a medium sized board that works well
as a light wind board or as the single board for
intermediate kitesurfers, and a big board that is
mainly designed for the beginners.
PVC (Wood)
118/128/138
35/36/37
1,8(2,2)/2,0(2,3)/2,1(2,4)
PVC
140
38
2,5
PVC
160
36
3,0
Ocean Rodeo
Ocean Rodeo has a very interesting line since
they put a lot of effort into developing boards for
wave riding, which unfortunately is quite rare. A
bit surprisingly though, they only have twin-tipmodels
in their line. For the 2004 season they
have three new models. The most extreme
design is without a doubt the Mako, which is
long and narrow and has a very deep concave –
18 mm! Legend is an elaboration of 2003 years
Outlaw and is a fairly big board. Zen is a
somewhat smaller board, with a flatter bottom
curve.
Zen
135/153
35/37
-
Legend
142/174
36/39,5
-
Mako
150
34
-
12

Slingshot
Slingshot has three different lines. The main line
is their SX, which exists in five different sizes.
These are quite short and wide boards but with
lots of curve in the outline which makes them
work well for both freestyle and wake-style.
Misfit Surf is, as the name suggests, a pure
wave board. It’s one of the new generation
mutants that have a symmetrical outline, but
with the option of moving the straps more
towards the rear of the board. Misfit Surf works
in both big and small surf. The final board in
Slingshot’s selection is LFT that stands for Little
Fat Twin. Actually it isn’t small at all, but a
perfect light wind board that also works well for
beginners.
SX
119/122/132/139/144
35/38/39,25/40,6/43,25
-
Misfit Surf
150
39,5
-
LFT
167
49
-
Wave
Wave has two different lines of boards. Tribal is
a quite standard freeride board that there isn’t
too much to say about. It works well both for
beginners and more advanced riders and makes
it easy to go upwind. V-flex is a more interesting
board. At the first glance it also looks quite much
like a standard freestyle board, but if you look
closer you notice that the board is split in the
front and the back. This way the board gets lots
of flex in the ends when it is edged hard, like in a
turn or before a traditional jump, but less flex
when it is ridden flat like in landings or when
popped out of the water. This gives a board that,
at least in theory, works equally well for
freestyle, wave riding, and wake-style tricks. The
board comes in four different sizes.
V-flex
127/135/140/150
34/35/36/39
1,8/1,9/2,2/2,4
Tribal
-
-
-
13

Handle pass
Text and pictures: Jonas Hörnstein
In almost every action sport there is some manoeuvre that in one way or another gets to serve as
a dividing line between the most skilled riders and the broad mass. This may not be totally true
when actually practicing the sport, as factors like speed, height of the jumps, and control in the
landings easily distinguish a good rider from the crowd. Instead the distinguishing manoeuvres
play their biggest role as you compare your skills at the beach or at the bar after a hard day of
action. For the windsurfers, the distinguishing manoeuvre is, without a doubt, the forward loop.
For a surfer a barrel is the door to fame, and for the kitesurfers the handle pass is establishing
itself as the manoeuvre that makes people turn their heads in your direction.
It’s in the sakes natures that a
manoeuvre of this dignity should
be both difficult and painful to
learn. Fortunately the handle
pass is far easier to learn than
for example a forward loop with
a windsurf board, and with the
right preparations it doesn’t
have to be a too painful
experience.
So, what is a handle pass
A handle pass simply means
that we let the bar pass behind
our back. Does it sound simple
Then consider that to do this
you have to unhook from the
chicken loop, hold the kite with
one hand, and then grab the bar
behind the back with the other
hand. To make it even more
difficult we then do this with the
body upside down high up in the
air! The reason we do it upside
down isn’t just to make it look
cool though, but also because it
makes it easier since the kite is
pulling upwards and we need to
be able to hold the bar close to
the body during the pass.
Here we will show how to do the
handle pass during a classic
jump, which is the easiest way,
but it can equally well be done
by popping the board out of the
water without moving the kite.
The differences between these
two techniques were described
in KitesurfinEurope #2, 2004.
Preparations
There are not any specific
maneouvres you need to know
before you can start training
handle passes, but you should
prepare yourself well, both on
land and in the water, before
you try to pass the bar behind
your back in the middle of a high
jump.
On the water it is good to warm
up with some surface handlepass,
i.e. by passing the bar
behind the back while you are
sailing straight or as you land
after a jump. The latter requires
a little more timing, but on the
other hand there is almost no
pressure at all from the kite as
you land which simplifies the
pass. The pass is most easily
performed when riding toeside
or blind so you should master
this. However you do not really
need to know how to do surface
handle passes before starting to
do the air handle pass
described here. What you do
need to know is to ride and jump
unhooked from the chicken loop
so make sure to practise this.
The pass itself can, with
advantage, be trained on land
by simply mounting a bar in a
tree. Kick up the legs and bend
the arms as if you would do a
somersault over the bar, but
halfway through the jump you
twist the body and perform the
pass before you fall back down.
When you start to get decent
control of the pass on land you
are prepared to try it out on the
water.
15
Equipment
Ok, you are prepared, but what
about the equipment The big
problem when you train handle
passes is that you might easily
let go of the bar halfway through
the jump. It is therefore
necessary to use a kite leash. In
order for the leash not to hinder
your movements as you pass
the bar behind your back you
should attach the leash to your
back. Normally you would attach
the other side of the leash to
one of the lines of the kite in
order for the kite to loose its
power and drop down if you
loose the bar. However,
everyone that has tried this
knows what a mess that follows
as the lines get all twisted up.
Many people therefore choose
to attach the leash to the
chicken loop. This setting is
often referred to as a suicide
leash as it doesn’t make the kite
fall down and as a result you
can be dragged for a long time
behind the kite. A suicide leash
should of course only be used if
you have lots of space around
you and don’t risk to be dragged
into something or someone.
However it can simplify a lot as
it gets easy to restart the kite if
you loose it during the jump.
When it comes to the rest of the
equipment any combination of
kite and board will do, but the
trick is easiest to stick with a
small kite, around 10-12 square
meters.

4
3
2
1. Sail half wind or a little further down
wind and hook out of the chicken-loop. Pull
the kite back slightly over your head, but
not as far back as if you would boost a
really high jump, and let yourself get lifted
out of the water as in a normal jump.
2. We want to do the pass at the highest
point of the jump where the power from the
kite is low. Depending on how high the
jump gets you may need to wait for a split
second before you initiate the pass. The
pass is then initiated by quickly pulling the
head backwards and bending both arms
and legs.
1
3. In the same time as we try to get the
board up above us we start to twist the
body by looking over the right shoulder and
pulling the hands and the bar towards the
left hip.
4. Just before we reach the highest point of
the jump we let go of the right hand. Now
there’s no time for hesitation! If you start to
hesitate at this stage there is no way you’ll
make it. You have to make up your mind
before the jump and fulfil whether the jump
gets five meters or one meter.
16

5
6
5. Depending on how much power we put
into the initialisation of the pass and how
well we have timed the highest point of the
jump we will experience a short time when
we are more or less weightless. Pass the
bar behind the back with a swift movement
and try to grab it on the other side with
your free hand.
7
6. Hopefully the pass worked out and you
now hold the bar with the other hand. If not
the kite will probably loop and you better
get prepared for a hard crash… One way
to stop the kite from doing a loop and
make the crash a little less painful is to
grab the kite in the chicken-loop in order to
sheet out and stop the rotation.
8
7. Now you have to try to grab the bar with
both hands before you land. It is possible
to land with only one hand, but it is hard to
land it clean and a fair chance that you’ll
either land it on your back or loop the kite
and land with too much speed.
8. You made it! Now you can just hook
back in and checkout if any of your friends
saw you – congratulations!
17

Cabarete – the kitesurfing Mecka
Text and Photo: Anna Sparre, Christian Dittrich, Emma York, and Roberto Foresti (PKRA)
It all started with two jet-lagged people. Anna, who was laying knocked out on the hotel bed, and
Chrille on the way to the centre to arrange bolibompas, or pesos as they are called in the Dominican
Republic. Chrille managed to find a teller machine and got into the small air-conditioned
room. He entered his Visa and calculated the amount he needed to withdraw. He entered the
code, the amount and everything else that the machines told him to do. The money and the
receipt came and Chrille hurried back to the hotel, happy as he thought he had finished his business
in the hot city centre. But, oh no, in this country they make their best to complicate things,
so the card is not returned until you explicitly push a certain button that means “I would very
much like to get my Visa card returned”. This meant that the next person who came to the
machine was very happy to find that there was already a card in the machine from which he
could withdraw his money. The situation was saved by one of the day’s power failures (in the
Dominican Republic the power is cut at different places several times a day since the power isn’t
enough to supply the whole country at the same time), so most of the money stayed on the
account.
I think that almost every
kitesurfer knows Cabarete, an
almost unbeatable place if you
look for wind, beaches, and sun
in combination with descent
civilization. But Cabarete is
more than just Kite Beach. As
the home spot for Takoon rider
Lousiano Gonzales, Susy Mai,
José Louis and many of the
world’s upcoming stars, Cabarete
offers much more than it
might seem at the first glance.
When we returned to Cabarete
for the forth time it was mainly in
order to compete in the world
cup, but since the competition
was held in such a nice place as
the Dominican Republic, we
took the chance to spend some
weeks. We had previously only
been to Cabarete during winter
and spring, but it showed that
summer is unbeatable. Wind
during all the day and strong
enough to keep you going with
an eight or ten meter kite. The
swell is smaller, but due to the
strong wind there gets some
nice waves at the reef despite
the lack of swell.
Cabarete’s main spot for
kitesurfers, Kite Beach, is just a
few minutes to the west of the
city centre. The beach is full of
kite schools and the beginners
walk in a nice line on the beach.
This is a good spot with
relatively flat water close to the
beach and a reef with nice
waves a few hundreds of meters
out. Unfortunately it can get
quite crowded here, but we
found the summer much more
relaxed than winter and spring.
This is good also for the
economy as you could bargain
on everything with good results.
You could preferable live at Kite
Beach, which we tried this time.
It was really nice to be able to
get out immediately as you saw
the wind come up and in that
way escape some of the crowd.
It is usually a little bit more
expensive than to live inside the
town, especially if you’re there
for a longer time.
Another kite spot to try is La
Boca. The best way to get there
is with motoconcho. Motoconcho
is a motorcycle taxi, and
Cabarete is full of them. There
are standard prices, but as for
everything else it is better to
make up the price before. La
Boca is situated east of
Cabarete and it takes about ten
minutes to get there. “The
mouth”, which is the english
translation of La Boca is a river
18
mouth with perfect flat water.
Unfortunately it sometimes gets
low on water and the area
where you can kite gets very
small. It is also surrounded of
sharp mangroves, so you better
keep your kite in the air. If you’d
like to take a rest you can do it
in the shadow of the small
restaurant that serves the best
Piña Colada in the whole
Cabarete. Don’t bring more than
one kite as this allows you to
make a nice downwinder back
to Cabarete once you’re
finished.
If you want to do a really nice
downwinder you should take
one from Kite Beach to
Encuentro. If you want to make
it longer you can start further
upwind from Bozo Beach. The
road between Kite Beach and
Encuentro has nice waved on a
pretty deep reef and there are
usually no other kitesurfers in
your way, so just let go and
have fun. Once at Encuentro the
waves are usually very good,
but the reef is shallower and you
might encounter some surfers.
To get home you can take a
motoconcho, but order one
before you go to be sure to get
picked up.

The week before the PKRA
event, Kite Chicks, a new
clothes brand, arranged a kite
week just for girls. Anna took
part in some of the events and it
was a nice experience. When
you are used to sail only with
the boys home at Habo Ljung it
feels really nice to be surrounded
by other girls for a change.
Among the girls both beginners
and experienced girls trying
handle passes, doing kiteloops,
and ripping in the waves, were
present. They also arranjed a
competition just for girls, and
Anna managed to take first
place. Kite Chicks arranges girls
weeks at several places around
the world and these events are
highly recommended.
The third stop of the world cup
was held at Bozo Beach,
Cabarete. Bozo is situated
about 10 minutes upwind (by
kite) from Kite Beach, close to
the centre of Cabarete. It is a
bay where the wind is normally
side onshore and somewhat
gusty. The water is a bit choppy
or consists of irregular waves
with a shore break that can get
pretty big. Even if it may not
sound very nice, it can be a
good alternative to a packed
Kite Beach, and it is close to the
centre of the city. We were four
Swedes that participated in the
competition, and one of the
judges was also from Sweden
(and they say Sweden is one of
the smallest countries when it
comes to kitesurfing). As the
biggest PKRA event, 70 men
and 30 women were registered
for the competition. The
competition started, as usually
at the bigger events, with a
qualification. Many big names
and other skilled riders, along
with some changed judging
criterias, made it really difficult
to qualify for the main event. But
both Micke (alias Mike the
Knife) and Chrille managed to
go through from the men
qualification and Anna got
among the 16 girls that qualified
for the main event for the
women. Then the real show
took off! Since the new judging
criterion meant more points for
those who went for the new
powerful tricks than those who
pulled off easier tricks, we got to
see one sick trick after another.
Aaron Hadlow along with
several others hooked out,
jumped seven meters up, pulled
off a kiteloop and, as the kite
passed below him went for a
handle pass… or crashed hard.
The girls also impressed. Cindy
Mosey really knows how to do
these handle passes by now
and several other girls gave it a
try. Angela Peral from Spain
impressed with the most
aggressive kiteloops and
managed to win the first
elimination. Mosey made sure to
change this in the second round
and won the event, leaving
Angela Peral in second. In the
men’s competition, Jaime
Herraiz, who despite his
powerful style never had won an
event, finally got it all together
and took the first place. Aaron
Hadlow, ended up on second
place and Jose Louis Ciriaco
come third. In the second
discipline, Best trick, both Chrille
and Anna made it through to the
final. Also in this discipline it
was lots of action and once
again it was Jaime Herraiz and
Cindy Mosey that took first
place. Unfortunately the new
criterion for the judges not only
made the competition into a nice
show. Several times they also
lead to lots of confusion as the
ones that the other riders
thought had won the heat was
declared as defeated. The
judges decision didn’t always
seem very consistent and many
of the riders felt that they had
been treated unfair.
What about the city then Is
there anything more than surf in
20
Cabarete Yes, even though
Cabarete mainly is built around
the surf and tourism industry, it
is still a nice little town. And the
people in the Dominican
Republic have a nice approach
to life. Don’t miss the local beer,
Presidente, and ”Pollo guisado”
even if Cabarete at the first
glance may seem to offer
nothing but tourist shops. If you
want to do it the Dominican way
you should eat the best pollo
guisado at Sandro’s restaurant
in the centre of the city. Pollo
guisado is a grilled chicken in a
nice sauce, served with rise and
beans. It is cheap, tasty, and
you really get full up. At
Sandro’s it is also a must to
drink “batida”, that is a fruit
milkshake. The presidente-beer
is preferable taken at “the hole
in the wall” in the city centre.
East of the city there’s another
Dominican restaurant with
Dominican food of good quality.
Fat Chicken offers chicken, fish,
and sometimes even more
dishes. Good fish can also be
had at the Dominican El Tigre,
Mercedes or some of the other
restaurants in the area. It is
worth to take a trip there at
daylight and check out this nice
little town with genuine
Dominican stores. There are of
course lots of other restaurants
to choose from, but everything
isn’t cheap in Cabarete. Many of
the restaurants in the centre of
Cabarete are driven by non-
Dominican people with higher
prices as a result, but you can
find good pizzas, pastas, and
even Swedish meatballs. If you
feel like having lunch but are
stuck on Kite Beach, the best
thing to do is to go to the small
Dominican restaurant just
across the street from Kite Park,
but also Kite Beach Hotel and
Kite Park have lunch to a cheap
price. You can also buy a
banana cookie for desert at the
small stand, also known as
”Ariel’s mother”.

There are lots of other great
spots around Cabarete that
defenitely are woth a visit. Las
Terrenas, a few hours east of
Cabarete, is one of the most
beutiful places we have visited.
Since the wind is always weaker
in Las Terrenas you should wait
until a really windy day in
Cabarete before you go there.
But even if the wind would fail it
is still worth the trip. Try some
scuba diving and look at the
coral reefs in the crystal clear
water. Eat fish at a cosy
restaurant and enjoy the view.
In Las Terrenas the water is
mainly flat, but there are some
half-secret spots nearby that
offers nice and big waves.
Other places that are worth to
try are Montecristi, west of
Cabarete, where the wind
instead is often stronger than in
Cabarete. And if you go to the
city Puerto Plata, that is also
situated west of Cabarete, you
can find several really nice
places to kite with much less
kitesurfers in the water.
Ok, Cabarete isn’t the nice
secret spot anymore, where you
and your friends can be alone in
the water for whole day. But it is
still one of the most accessible
and consistent places on earth
and with a little bit of effort you
can still find a nice spot for you
own where you can live nice
and cheap.
21

First in the world over 40
knots!
Manu Taub has done it again! He has broken
the world speed record, and this time he
managed to pass 40 knots after the annoying
result of 39.79 knots in Leucate earlier this
year. The new record reads 40,53 knop and
was made the July 29 during the world speed
challange at Sotavento, Fuerteventura. With
several other runs at high speed he also took
the first place in the competition followed by
Sebastien Cattelan. Congratulations!
Boarder cross
Photos: Roberto Foresti
During the PKRA event at Sotavento,
Fuerteventura, a new discipline called boarder
cross was born. The competitors were divided
into 4 men heats and sailed a specific course,
turning around buoys, jumping obstacles and
doing predefined tricks on the way. The finish
line consisted of two sausages. If a rider
managed to jump over both sausages he or
she was declared the winner of the heat
(assuming no one had done it before). If none
of the riders jumped over both sausages the
first rider over the line was the winner.
Results men:
1. Jaime Herraiz (Esp)
2. Martin Vari (Arg)
3. Jose Luengo (Esp)
Results women:
1. Ingrid Köllbichler (Aut)
2. Jo Wilson (UK)
3. Gabi Steindl (Aut), CJ Jones (Aus), Andreya
Wharry (UK)
22

PKRA Sotavento
For the third consecutive year, Sotavento, Fuerteventura, hosted the PKRA tour and as usual it
offered strong wind and challenging conditions for the competitors. Martin Vari took his first win for
the season with Aaron Hadlow finishing second. Kristin Boese won the women competition. In
addition to the freestyle competition a speed event and a boarder cross were held.
Results men:
Results women:
1. Martin Vari (Arg) 1. Kristin Boese (Ger)
2. Aaron Hadlow (UK) 2. Ingrid Köllbichler (Aut)
3. Etienne Lhote (Fra) 3. Petra Goeschl (Ger)
4. Ruben Lenten (Hol) 4. Angela Peral (Esp)
5. Jeremie Eloy (Fra), Gianni Aragno (Esp) 5. Susi Mai (Ger), Aurelia Herpin (Fra)
Plats: Björkängs camping, Varberg
Datum: 25-26 september 2004
Deltagare: Alla kitesurfare som vill
Gå in på någon av arrangörs länkarna
här nedan, för att läsa mer och föranmäla
dig till Kitenation kite-clinics
och/eller Kiteaddicts Jump competition.
Vill du inte delta i någon aktivitet är det
bara att komma dit och surfa och ha
kul. Välkommen!
Tävlingen hålls lördagen den 25 september
med söndagen den 26 september
som reservdag.
Boka helgen den 25-26 september!
”Lite sköna soffor på stranden, kalla öl i kylen,
surf i två dygn, kite-clinics, Airtime tävling, chill
out DJ:n spelar lite grooves, någon flippar lite
burgare på grillen. På kvällen kollar vi surfrullar
på storbildsskärmen.” Så är stämningen på Hang
Loose den 25-26 september, 2004, Björkängs
camping, Varberg.
Kitenation kite-clinics
Utveckla ditt kitesurfande tillsammans med några
av de främsta surfarna i norden. Lär dig allt från
backrolls till Handle-passes. Du väljer själv grupp
och svårighetsgrad.
Kiteaddicts Jump competition
Tävlingen där längst Airtime gäller. Delta och
passa på att utmana Nordens främsta kitesurfare.
Längst tid i luften vinner 3000 kr.
Arrangörer
kitenation.se • surfineurope.net • kiteaddicts.net 23 • surfersparadise.nu • swell.se
kitenation.se surfineurope.net kiteaddicts.net surfersparadise.nu swell.se

Wave Challange, Denmark
Text : Henke, Pepe, Falle, Mat, Photo:Mathieu Turries/www.alohaphoto.nu
Competing in Denmark is something that everyone should try; it’s a flat and cosy land with an
undulating sea. The 15 of August the West Coast Wave Challenge (the Danish championship in
wave) was held at Blaavand with good winds and waves. We were four Swedes that went too far
and too tight in the same car: Henrik Fahlén and Mathieu Turries who were going there with the
objectives to eat Danish pölse, drink Danish beer and of course to ride the Danish waves. Henrik
Ericsson and Jesper Berg with the same objectives, but who were also going to try their luck in
the competition.
Saturday the 14th we started
without any wind but with shiny
sun and 30 degrees in the air,
so we played with our
surfboards in the small halfmeter
waves that the Danish
west coast had to offer. Later in
the night we put on a barbeque
accompanied by Pepe and Mat
on their guitars and by Falle on
his Hawaiian ukulele. Also the
Danish kitesurfer Morten Lander
shined up and joined in when he
heard the tones of an old hit
from Guns N´Roses.
The competition day started with
a 30 km drive, but as soon as
we reached Blaavand we
immediately realised that it
would be worth the trip with the
wind blowing about 25 knots
straight sideshore, small but
clean waves of about one meter
size, and lots of skilled
kitesurfers like Schramm,
Lander, Bloch among others.
The Danish field was strong and
it was set for a hard competition.
The competition consisted of
five minutes heats where 2/3 of
the points were given to wave
riding and 1/3 to jumping. Only
the best wave and the best trick
in every heat were counted.
Considering the good conditions
with strong wind and waves
normally offered by the Danish
west coast, the titel ”Danish
wave master” seemed to be in a
strong grip by our Danish
neighbours.
Mads Bloch is one of the most
promising young kitesurfers in
Europe, if not in the whole
world. Waves might not be his
strongest side, but he is full of
energy and explodes into
handle passes and different
24

types of kiteloops. Morten
Lander, also called Kamikaze, is
an old fox in the game, and with
his ability to adapt to the new
powerful style of kitesurfing he
wins just about every
competition he enters. The
winner of last year’s Wave
Classic in Sweden, Peter
Schramm sticks to the old
school style with high jumps,
board-offs, lots of rotations, and
an occasional kiteloop. He does
it well and has a nice style, but
his strong side is definitely the
wave riding which made him a
strong candidate for the title.
The Swedes: Henke, Jesper,
Kicki, and Filip were in it most
for fun, but when the smoke and
the waves were gone Jesper
Berg stood as the winner of the
event. Jesper entertained with a
really good display, and showed
to be equally comfortable in the
jumps and in the waves.
Jespers powerful backside
riding probably influenced the
judges, as most of the others
rode frontside. In addition
Jesper was riding the waves
unhooked, which was rare.
Anyway it felt good to get
revenge on the Danish after
their domination in last year’s
wave classic event in Sweden.
There is not so mush to say
about the competition itself.
Kitesurferen.dk, with Thomas
Alsbirk as the front person,
offered a well-arranged event
without any surprises. In
Denmark they arrange so many
competitions that it is difficult to
do a big thing around each one
of them, but it is really no need
to do that either. Getting
together to have fun and get
inspired is what it is all about.
But of course there is a bit of
prestige involved as well and it
probably hurt a little to have a
Swede taking the title.
25

Above: Jesper Berg in a backside bottomturn
Right: Morten Lander, Jesper Berg, Peter Schramm
Below: Jesper Berg pulls off a stylish jump
26

Germany Kite FA open
Text: Flo Ducate (PKRA), Photo: Roberto Foresti (PKRA)
Only a 2-hour car drive away
from Hamburg airport there’s an
island in the North of Germany
called Fehmarn. The island is
one of the biggest and best
kiteboarding/windsurfing spots
of Germany and every weekend
or weeknight after work (if it’s
windy) you will see plenty of
cars loaded up with gear driving
over the bridge up to the island.
Most riders arrived more or less
at the same time on Sunday and
registration started at 1pm till 7
pm on the 4th of July. The
same evening there was a
dinner for everyone and in the
back ground the final of the
European soccer championship,
not that important to most
people though.
The first day was supposed to
start with the trials, 34 men and
11 girls registered and 18 men
had to go through the trials, with
16 advancing to the main event.
First day was summer in
Germany, sun and blue skies
but no wind, a lot of cruising
around, screwing in fins, setting
up the foot straps and a lot of
fiddling around in the tent with
equipment. The next morning
(Tuesday) was great we finished
the trials and the single
elimination in one day. The
wind was strong at some
moments and very gusty and a
while later there would be no
wind anymore. Very hard to
decide which kite to take, one
moment the riders would be
overpowered on a 12 and in the
next they would be under on a
16m.
Main event
Sky Solbach (USA) probably
was affected the most with
those conditions, he went out on
a 12 m and was under and the
heat got cancelled, 10 minutes
later the heat started again with
Sky being on a 16 m and was
absolutely overpowered, he
certainly took the best crashes
of the week, after that his
shoulder started hurting again
(an injury from Cabarete) and
Sky ended up on the beach for
the rest of the competition.
Andre Phillip (ANT) went from
one heat to another with a lot of
front to blinds to handle pass,
railey to blind to handle pass,
powered Mobes, s-bend to blind
with handle pass and so on, a
whole story of stylish powered
moves that had him winning
from Sebastian Bubmann (GER)
in the first round, Jose Luengo
(ESP) in the second round and
Kevin Langeree (NED) in the
quarter finals. In the semi finals
Andre competed against Gianni
Aragno and lost. Gianni did
very nice moves, railey’s, s-
bends, nice grabs, kiteloops,
front Mobes and more.
Alvaro Onieva (ESP) took the
winning place from Sergio
Perera (ESP) in the first round
but lost in the second round
from Etienne Lhote, Alvaro
broke his foot strap screw
during the heat.
Abel Lago (ESP) won from
Clinton Bolton (GER) in the first
round, both riders did a high
Mobe, board off moves, in the
mean time Jose Luis Ciriaco
(DOM REP) won from Alex
Pages (ESP) with some
impressive kiting, railey with a
kiteloop, Hoochie Glide to
surface handle pass, Alex did
some nice high handle passes
too. Abel and Jose Luis ended
up against each other in the
second round with a very nice
28
heat from both sides, Abel won
over Jose Luis and went on to
the next round and lost from
Ruben Lenten (NED) in the
quarterfinals.
Jaime Herraiz (ESP) started his
day well with a nice heat against
Greg Heydenrych (SA) and
ended up in the second round
against Ruben Lenten, Jaime
lost against Ruben. Ruben on
fire during the whole single
elimination, he won from Morten
Lander (DEN) in the first round,
Jaime Herraiz in the second
round, Abel Lago in the third
round and finally lost in the semi
finals against Aaron Hadlow
(UK), Ruben did a lot of handle
passes, high and powered ones
and a lot of other hooked and
unhooked moves, railey’s, board
off’s, a lot of variation in his
repertoire, the heat between the
2 youngsters was very nice,
Ruben was actually leading the
heat till just before the end
where Aaron did a very nice
kiteloop handle pass and went
up on the judges scoring sheets
again.
Ruben ended up in third place
after winning from Andre Phillip
in the losers final.
Mark Shinn did a very nice first
heat with at the end a pretty
radical kiteloop handle pass, he
didn’t land it but it was probably
too high to have a clean landing.
In his second heat the wind
backed off and he was
underpowered on a 14 m and
lost from Janek Korycki (POL),
Janek had enough power to do
some tricks and a couple of
handle passes made it through
to the next round against Aaron
Hadlow where he lost. Aaron,
on fire as usual, did his normal
heat where he just about landed
everything he goes into, handle

passes and a lot of other
unhooked tricks as unhooked
kiteloops and so on. Aaron
went all the way to the finals,
where he ended up against
Gianni Aragno, a very nice heat
with a lot of impressive moves
from both sides though both
crashed a lot, both guys were
pretty tired from competing the
whole day in pretty hard
conditions. Gianni went for
some very powered unhooked
kiteloops, railey with a kiteloop,
a KGB and unhooked grabs.
Aaron went for some other
technical moves such as front
Mobes, a slim chance,
downloop s-bend, unhooked
kiteloop and some other small
grabs and tricks. The end result
was Aaron in first and Gianni in
second, congratulations you
guys you did really well! Ruben
Lenten in third position, Andre
Phillip in fourth, Kevin Langeree,
Etienne Lhote (FRA), Abel Lago
and Janek Korycki in fifth place
followed by Jose Luengo, Rolf
Van der Vlugt, Alvaro Onieva,
Marc Ramseier, Jose Luis
Ciriaco, Jaime Herraiz, Mark
Shinn and Alex Tritten in ninth
place.
Girls
11 girls showed up for this
event, not as many as usual,
which meant that the pre
seeded girls had an immediate
pass to the second round, Gabi
Steindl (AUT) went against
Angela Peral (ES) in the first
round, Angela made a nice
kiteloop, railey and other nice
moves, Gabi went for very high
jumps (probably the highest of
the whole contest) and some
powered moves like railey’s and
surface handle passes. CJ
Jones (AUS) went on against
Ania Grzelinska (POL), CJ was
underpowered in her heat and
had trouble staying upwind,
Ania did some one footers and
unhooked moves.
29

Katja Roose (HOL) was in her
first PKRA event and won from
Kiki Karlsson (SWE) in the first
round, she went on to Cindy
Mosey in the second round and
tried her hardest but lost. On
the other side of the same heat
Petra Goeschl (GER) went
against Susi Mai. Petra was
underpowered on a 14 m and
she went straight down wind out
the area.
Ingrid Köllbichler won from
Gabie Steindl in the second
round and went on against Ania
Grzelinska in the semi finals,
Ania did some unhooked spins
and one footers, board offs and
other jumps. Ingrid Köllbichler
was on a mission, she decided
that she wasn’t going to take her
board off anymore and did a lot
of other jumps like backroll
kiteloop, one footers, triple
backspins and grabs and so on.
On the other side of the draw
Susi Mai went up against Cindy
Mosey with surface handle
passes, backloop kiteloop, she
was pretty overpowered and
had difficulties not to lose grip.
Cindy went for quite a lot of
moves, double back roll with a
kiteloop, Mobe, surface handle
passes, 1 handed front loop and
so on, Cindy took the winning
place from Susi and went on to
the final against Ingrid. Once
again both girls competed
against the other, in the year
2002 and 2003 both girls
competed several times
together and now this year
again they went up against each
other in the final!
Ingrid has been doing a lot of
jumping and is going pretty high.
This time though she went for
more wakestyle moves, all sorts
of railey’s, one footers and new
school moves. Cindy sailed a
solid heat with an aerial handle
pass, several different surface
handle passes, kiteloops and
some little but as important
moves like railey’s, unhooked
front and backloops and so on.
Cindy took the first place on
technical difficulty and Ingrid
ended up in second place…Susi
Mai was third followed by Ania
Grzelinska in fourth place.
The double elimination started
for the men but a full round has
to be finished to have the results
counted, a couple of heats had
to be cancelled and to be rerun
later on and in the end the wind
died completely and it was not
possible anymore to finish. The
final results for the men were:
1. Aaron Hadlow (UK)
2. Gianni Aragno (ESP)
3. Ruben Lenten (HOL)
4. Andre Phillip (ANT)
The results for the girls on the
other hand changed as they
completed another 2 rounds.
The first round did not have to
be sailed as there were not
enough girls and all of them had
a by to the next round. In the
second Angela Peral went
through to the next round where
she was going to meet Petra
Goeschl but the third round
never happened because of
lack of wind. Gabi Steindl and
Kiki Karlsson went up against
each other on the other side of
the draw. Kiki was pretty
underpowered and went out the
area in no time. In the mean
time Gabi took the advantage to
complete her heat with all sorts
of tricks and win. After that
round the wind died and the
results counted. The first places
stayed the same.
1. Cindy Mosey (NZ)
2. Ingrid Köllbichler (AUT)
3. Susi Mai (GER)
4. Ania Grzelinska (POL)
Party’s
The opening ceremony was a
big BBQ with drinks for
everyone, a cozy evening with
all the riders and straight after
that sleeping time.
The rest of the nights were
rather calm, some of the
evenings had entertainment like
a live band at the campsite and
little bars on the beach with beer
and soft drinks.
The campsite owned a disco
and some of the riders went
there to party and have some
drinks but overall people were
pretty calm.
For summer we were pretty
lucky with the wind, a shame we
couldn’t finish the double
elimination but we had a result,
pictures and a story to be told!
30

KPWT Turkey
Text: Jonas Hörnstein, Photo: Paul Eric, KPWT
The second round of the
kiteboard world cup 2004, was
held between the 11 th and 18 th
of July at Burc Beach close to
Istanbul, Turkey. After an
unlucky start with hard winds
during night and no wind at all
during daytime, the wind finally
came together during the last
days. The competition offered
high standard from the start with
among others Charles Deleau,
last year’s winner of the cup,
doing double handle passes.
Another who really impressed
was 15 years old Kevin Langree
from Holland. On the women
side the show was stolen by an
even younger competitor – 10
years old Gisela Pulido from
Spain.
After the first elimination,
Mickaël Fernandez held the
lead before Charles Deleau and
Kevin Langeree. On the women
side it was Gisela Pulido in top,
followed by Laurence Lignieres
and Fabienne D’Ortoli. The wind
continued to blow on the last
day and a second elimination
could be held. The women’s
result stayed the same, and on
the men’s side Kevin managed
to advance one place.
Freestyle men:
1. Mickaël Fernandez (Fra)
2. Kevin Langeree (Hol)
3. Charles Deleau (Fra)
Freestyle women:
1. Gisela Pulido (Spa)
2. Laurence Lignieres (Gua)
3. Fabienne D’Ortoli (Fra)
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